The Southern Miss Golden Eagles face the Tulane Green Wave in the 2020 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl at the Among G. Carter Stadium on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles finished the regular season with a 7-5 record which was good for third place in the Conference USA’s West Division. Southern Miss lost its last two regular-season games by a combined score of 64-27. Former conference rival Tulane also heads to this game with their own struggled. The Green Wave head to Fort Worth with five losses in their last six games played. Tulane finished the season with a 6-6 record which put them in 4th place in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference.
Southern Miss is back in a bowl games after earning a fourth trip in the last five seasons with their 7-5 regular-season record. The Golden Eagles are 11-10 SU in 21 bowl game appearances and are looking to stay over the .500 mark when they face the Tulane Green Wave in the 2020 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
Jack Abraham has passed for a total of 3,329 passing yards with 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Kevin Matthews leads the Southern Miss rush offense with 548 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 102 carries. Quez Watkins leads the receiving corps with 1,024 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 55 catches.
Southern Miss is averaging 411 yards of total offense per game while allowing 350.3 total yards per game, including only 111.8 yards per game on the ground. The Golden Eagles are scoring an average of 27.8 points per game while giving up an average of 25.9 per outing.
The Tulane Green Wave had an excellent start to their 2019 season. Then a strong schedule forced them to stumble to a 1-5 SU record to finish the year. Tulane has lost its last three games played and they are looking to finish the season strong with a win over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on January 4, 2020.
Justin McMillan has thrown for a total of 2,229 yards with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. McMillan also led the Green Wave in rushing with 704 rushing yards with 12 touchdowns on 152 carries. Darnell Mooney leads Tulane with 45 catches for 670 receiving yards with five touchdowns.
Tulane is averaging 33.3 points per game scored this season while allowing their opponents to score just 27.4 points per contest. The Green Wave are also giving up a total of 378.5 total yards per outing while generating 455.2 total yards of offense this season.
Southern Miss is 5-3 SU in their last eight games played. The Golden Eagles are 3-4 SU in seven games away from home and 1-0 SU at a neutral venue. Tulane is 1-5 SU in their last six games played. The Green Wave are 2-4 SU in six games on the road and 1-0 SU when playing at a neutral site. Head to head, Southern Miss is 9-1 SU in their last 10 games played against Tulane.
The Golden Eagles finished their regular season with back to back blowout losses. However, they have a good shot against Tulane because of their run defense. USM allowed just an average of 111.8 rushing yards per game and have not given up more than 151 rushing yards in their last eight games played.
A tough schedule forced Tulane to finish the regular season with a 1-5 SU record with all five losses coming at the hands of teams that are headed to bowl games. Three of the losses were by a single possession and they were underdogs in four of their last six games played. Leading rusher Corey Dauphine has a wrist injury and he may miss this game.
I think this will be a close and low-scoring contest. Southern Miss can stop Tulane’s running game with its defense. The status of Corey Dauphine adds to the Golden Eagles’ chances here. I think these are two average football teams who were fortunate enough to earn a bowl game spot. This should be competitive but I think the better team in Tulane takes this.
PREDICTION: TULANE GREEN WAVE
The Golden Eagles are 3-2 ATS in their last five games played. Southern Miss is 3-4 ATS in seven games on the road and 1-0 ATS when playing at a neutral site. The Green Wave are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games played and 2-4 ATS in six games away from home. Head to head, Southern Miss is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games played against Tulane.
This isn’t the kind of matchup that you’d want to see in a bowl game but this game should be very competitive and I’m quite surprised why Tulane is favored by one touchdown. The Green Wave aren’t a tough team to beat. If you take care of their rushing game, you have the chance to beat them. The Golden Eagles rank 18th against the run and while I’m not sure if they can beat the Green Wave, I don’t think they will lose by seven points. I’ll take the plus points here.
PREDICTION: SOUTHERN MISS +7
The total has gone under in each of the last five games played by Southern Miss. The under is 4-1 in the Golden Eagles’ last five games against the American Athletic Conference. The total has gone under in each of the last three games played by Tulane. The under is 4-1 in the Green Wave’s last five games against the Conference USA conference. Head to head, the under is 6-2 in the last eight meetings between Southern Miss and Tulane.
These teams have combined to score an average of 52.8 points per game in their last eight meetings and 53.0 points per game in their last three head to head encounters. These teams don’t possess explosive offenses and I like how Southern Miss’ defense matches up against Tulane’s rushing offense. I think the Golden Eagles are going to force a lot of punts here which will lead to a low-scoring game. The under is 5-0 in Southern Miss’s last five games with an average score of 41.4.
PREDICTION: UNDER 56.5
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